Salmon wrote (in another forum) about Songshan Airport:
[quote]It’s ideally located. I’ve woken on a sunny Saturday morning, decided to go to Matsu and been sipping pina coladas overlooking Fujian 2 hours later. Where’d the romance be if I had to venture into Taipei Co8unty first?
[/quote]
Really? I’ve never used Songshan Airport before. How much does it cost to go to Matsu and is it a good trip? How much do flights to Hualian, Tainan etc cost and can you usually just rock up and jump on plane?
Buy one-way as no tax applies if you purchase the return ticket over there. Use credit cards to obtain an insurance - you never know …
Be aware that the flights are often fully booked, if you make a reservation you must pick up the ticket 20 minutes before check-in time, else it goes to somebody else. Produce your IC/ARC/Passport to identify yourself.
Also expect that flights are delayed or cancelled due to the weather conditions, currently it’s very cold and extremely windy in Matsu.
I posted some more information about Matsu and Kinmen in another thread, just run a search.
PS: I am off to work in Matsu on Monday until CNY …
Edit: currently the airport of Matsu is on PeiKan island, starting on the 24th of this month (unconfirmed) it will be in NanKan. From there you can take a boat to HsiJue - though I wouldn’t know what to do there.
For the more adventurous: there is a daily ferry (pending weather conditions) from Keelung to NanKan via DongYin and vice versa. It’s an overnight trip (7 + 2.5 hours I think) and you can take a car or small truck along.
I use Songshan to pop over to the Penghu Islands, there a few great little hidden restaurants and coffeeshops in Makung and the people are so incredibly friendly and nice. There is also lots and lots of wide open spaces and excellent cheap seafood to eat. Renting a car or scooter is cheap and you can ride all day and enjoy the scenery. Take a ferry to JiBei island with its spectacular white sand beach. Very relaxing place. I went there last March. Warm enough to get a tan but not to swim. Not crowded at all, but some of the seasonal businesses weren’t open yet. Had the place to myself actually. Anyone reccomend any hotels in Penghu? I have yet to find any smaller cuter ones located on the beach. Last time I stayed at some modern generic hotel.
Looking forward to checking out Matsu! Thanks for the tip!
